Destiny Thwarted
by Neocolai
Summary: Drabble series. Bolg fumbles his shot and they "lose" one of their company. Spoilers for Desolation of Smaug.
1. Chapter 1

**Three Words:**

**Bored.**

**Needing.**

**Reviews.**

**Hence this quickie three-line story. (Enter the new age of prompts and challenges.)**

**(Author does not own The Hobbit or anything related to Tolkein's works)**

* * *

Bolg had meant to stick the Dwarf in the leg. Better a living hostage than one dead Dwarf and twelve warriors set on revenge.

His aim was too high. The dark haired one jerked backwards and fell, and scream from the fair haired Dwarf was the longest Bolg had ever heard.

He should have gone for the kill instead.

* * *

**Why do I write these things?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Three Words.**

**Wow. 8l**

**Reviews?**

**Really?**

**Figured a tragedy was a bad place to leave this fic. Besides, drabbles are the funnest thing ever. ;) Enjoy the next three chapters!**

* * *

Blood colored the water, dark and red.

Fili's world stopped, and there was nothing but crimson and dark hair and the whites of his brother's widened eyes.

He jumped without hesitation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Three Words:**

**Too.**

**Much.**

**Fun. :3**

* * *

Water filled Fili's vision. Red and blue and white and cloyed with the sense of futility and death.

Dark hair swam on the edges of his sight. He grabbed, caught and pulled.

His brother's face was chalk white.


	4. Chapter 4

**Three Words:**

**Has.**

**No.**

**Life. XD**

* * *

It was the she-Elf who pulled back the lever and let them go free.

She needn't have bothered.

Thorin's heart was already buried in the pounding waves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Three Words:**

**Stick.**

**With.**

**Me.**

* * *

Water broke over Fili's head and he gasped for air.

Kili lay too still in his arms. Limp. Unresponsive. _Lifeless._

White water filled his vision, and he pleaded he was not too late.


	6. Chapter 6

**Three Words.**

**A.**

**Little.**

**Longer.**

* * *

Thorin did not hear himself scream as Fili broke clear of the water.

Dwalin was closest: in moments he had grabbed the prince's arm and hauled him halfway out of the river.

Kili's head lolled against the barrel and Thorin dreaded what he must tell his sister.


	7. Chapter 7

**Three Words x2**

**Blame.**

**The.**

**Muses.**

**If. You. Must.**

* * *

He clung on for dear life. There was nothing but the barrel, his little brother, and the river threatening to wash over their heads.

Fili risked a glance at Kili and nearly lost his grip in despair.

His brother's face was pale, and far too peaceful.


	8. Chapter 8

**Three Words:**

**It's.**

**Not.**

**Over.**

**...yet.**

* * *

There was no memory of washing ashore. Thorin shoved the burglar aside and ran to his nephews, his eyes only on the youngest lying sodden and motionless in a trail of dripping scarlet.

Oin's expression offered him no hope.

They had already lost him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Three Words x2**

**You.**

**Know.**

**Me.**

**Keep. On. Reading. ;)**

* * *

There was no time to mourn the dead.

Fili had to be dragged from his brother's body. His shriek of desolation rose above the thunder of the river.

Thorin fell to one knee, and allow Dwalin to carry his nephew away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Three Words:**

**Making.**

**Myself.**

**Depressed.**

* * *

The raftsman could offer no comfort: only transportation, a safehouse and his empty consolation for their loss.

He wrapped Kili in a cloak and carried him to his home personally.

Fili's eyes were empty and shattered as Thorin led him to safety.


	11. Chapter 11

**Three Words:**

**Hang.**

**In.**

**There.**

* * *

It was not right to see his nephew lying so silent – so _still_.

Kili was meant to run free, light and laughter captured in the heart of one born among the stars.

Thorin held Kili's cold, clammy hand in his own as Oin pulled out the grisly arrow head, and he tried not to remember.


	12. Chapter 12

**Three Words:**

**See?**

**Not.**

**Hopeless. XD**

* * *

Oin cursed and blood trickled out of the fresh, open wound.

Thorin's eyes snapped up and he _knew_ before the healer spoke.

"Corpses do not bleed, Thorin…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Final Stanza:**

**I'm Evil.**

**I know. ;)**

**Enjoy the Show!**

* * *

"Why will he not wake?"

Fili was broken and shivering, hope and despair and relief and devastation warring in his heart. He clung to Kili's hand, uncertain if his brother would live.

The arrow wound was shallow: pierced close to the shoulder blade and missing the vital organs. Oin could not find an answer.


	14. Chapter 14

The others left him. They _left_.

Fili understood the importance of the quest, but still he felt betrayed. _Hurt._ Abandoned.

Sweat dampened Kili's hair and his head rolled to the side. He was lost in the darkness of his nightmares, and none of Oin's efforts seemed enough to save him.


	15. Chapter 15

The fire consumed him: devoured his body and left him screaming and weightless as he tried to claw his way to the light.

He was being ripped apart. Why did he hurt so badly? _Fili, where are you?_

Kili whimpered and turned his head, sweat dripping down his face as the fever raged out of control. Fili had never felt so helpless.


	16. Chapter 16

The arrow wound was black and ugly. No poultice or medicine could draw out the poison.

Oin refused to give up. Not for his prince. Not for the youngest heir of Durin's line.

At the last moment Bard offered them hope.


	17. Chapter 17

A weed they called it. _Pigweed_, as though it was the most sullied plant in Middle Earth.

Bofur ran faster than he ever had in his life. His own life no longer depended on it.

He would not let their princeling die. Now was not the young one's time.


	18. Chapter 18

Kili scarcely breathed. His chest rose in shallow, rapid pants. His face was grey as though he were already buried.

Fili kissed his brother's fingers, tears dampening the limp, clammy hand.

"_I belong with my brother…"_ He could not find the strength to continue if Kili were dead.


	19. Chapter 19

Fili almost saw it happen before his eyes.

The blackened dagger swept down, ready to gut out the defenseless, inert prince.

If not for the Lady Tauriel, his brother would be dead.


	20. Chapter 20

Pigs were nasty creatures. A shame that athelas should be named after such despicable things.

Bofur grabbed a fistful of the plant, hoping he was not too late.

He hated Orcs.


	21. Chapter 21

Her eyes were bright and shining. She looked to him like Tinúviel from the Elvish stories Thorin forbade him to read.

But no, _her_ beauty was unsurpassed. The lady who danced among fire and stars was incomparable to any other.

He longed to ask her, but his eyes closed of his own accord. He pretended it was _his_ Tauriel's fingers that swept his hair aside as he was pulled into a deep sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Fili could not thank her enough. Kili's breath hitched and stuttered, his skin still too warm with the touches of a fever, but he was _alive._ He would live. His baby brother was safe for now.

Fili turned to offer his gratitude, but Tauriel was gone.

He cradled his brother's head in his hands, disregarding the moisture that splashed down onto Kili's face. It had been too close.


	23. Chapter 23

Victory over the Dragon was tinged with despair and regret.

Devotion to the quest had thrown out all else. Thorin had left his nephew in good hands.

He should have been there himself.


	24. Chapter 24

The Orcs had fled, scurrying away to their holes or whatever task they had left unfinished.

Tauriel was wary: the air felt evil and too warm, and the Lonely Mountain rumbled as it had not since _that time_.

Her footsteps quickened. She could not leave them to face a dragon alone.


End file.
